SANTA ANA : City Workers Told of Possible Layoffs

Continuing state fiscal problems have prompted the city to begin notifying some employees that they may be laid off July 1, officials said Monday.

“It’s likely that the city will have to eliminate a number of positions to make up for the continuing crisis in Sacramento,” City Manager David N. Ream said.

Ream refused to estimate how many workers would be given the “courtesy notices,” saying that decisions about individual layoffs will be made by each department head.

However, he said not all employees who receive notices will necessarily be laid off. “We’re giving the notices just in case, to give them as much notice as we can that they may be affected,” he said.

In two years, the state has siphoned about $14 million in city revenue to balance its own budget. As a result, Santa Ana has cut about 60 employees so far.

City officials plan to cut about $12 million from the $266.3-million budget for the 1993-94 fiscal year. Almost $9 million of that amount is to offset revenue the state has taken from Santa Ana, Ream said.

“We regret the fact that we’ve done a good job balancing our budget but are forced to reduce the work force because of the state’s inability to deal with their own financial problems,” he said.

Ream said that it is too early to tell how the cuts will affect city services but that that cutbacks would be spread throughout all city departments. The City Council will not decide until February at the earliest whether to approve layoffs proposed by the city staff as part of midyear budget adjustments.

One city worker, who asked that his name not be used, said he was disappointed that city officials did not ask the union whether employees would accept alternatives to layoffs, such as pay cuts or shortened workweeks.

“It’s almost like they’re playing God with our lives,” he said. A department head told him that his position would definitely be eliminated, he said.

He stressed that laying off people when the economy is poor would cause extreme hardship, adding: “It’s scary to think you might be homeless in six months and that you might be out on the street with your family. That’s a very scary feeling.”